Before the Night is over
by ncis-lady
Summary: “And what are the odds”, he asked quietly, “that the one we need is the one who searches for us?”“It’s against the odds”, Sara replied just as quietly. “But it happens. It’s only a matter of time.”Sandle. Post Lights in the Dark. Rated M for 2nd part


Well, here I am with the 4th part of my Sandle oneshots. This one is a sequel to "Lights in the Dark". I hope you like it!

* * *

**Before the Night is over **

* * *

In the dim light Greg could make out the silhouettes of familiar persons, and he was surprised how he could recognize them without seeing their faces. There was Nick, he was laughing, he could tell by the way he lifted his head a little bit while his shoulders didn't twitch but remained nearly still. A woman was standing next to him. She flipped her hair back and cocked her head. It had to be Sofia, and Greg smiled. They seemed to be having a good conversation, and he wondered where this would lead them to this night. Greg crossed the big hall, his cocktail in hands, and passed Warrick and Catherine who were standing in a corner, sipping their drinks, and while Cath was watching the people around, Warrick was definitely checking out something else – and the gorgeous top the blonde woman was wearing revealed some well hidden secrets, Greg thought, chuckling. Warrick looked up when he heard it, grinned and then made a "Hush!" sign with one finger on his lips. 

"Hey Greg!", someone shouted.

He turned round and faced Archie and Hodges, both of them having a beer at hands.

"Hey guys!", he greeted them with a smile. "Great party, isn't it?"

"Yeah", Hodges agreed. "Good-bye parties are the best parties, although I'm really gonna miss this guy, this… erm… John… erm… Joe…"

"Jake. His name is Jake", Archie laughed.

"Doesn't matter as long as I get drinks for free", the tall man said light-heartedly. "Cheers!"

All of them emptied their glasses fast, putting a satisfied smile on their faces.

"Have you seen Sara lately?", Greg asked innocently.

His co-workers shrugged.

"I think I saw her with Grissom about half an hour ago", Archie answered. "In the hall, but I'm not sure, I was kinda distracted by something else."

"And this 'something' didn't by any chance have marvellous long legs and the most awesome…"

"Hodges!", Greg interrupted the flow of too detailed information.

"Sorry, but you should've seen her, man!"

"You won't get her anyway, dude", Archie shook his head. "But have you noticed Warrick and Catherine? I bet he'll pick her up before the night is over!"

Greg rolled his eyes.

"See you later, ladies!"

Where the hell was Sara? He remembered seeing her in the kitchen, but she had been with Catherine, talking about something he didn't understand. Now Cath was definitely busy, so where was the young woman?

He ran into someone, that is, actually there were two people. Nick and Sofia.

"Nick!", he grabbed his friend's arm. "Wait a second."

The dark-haired man gave the younger one a look of the 'Don't you dare spoil my night man'-kind.

"What?"

"Have you seen Sara?" His tone was almost pleading.

"Sara?" Nick wrinkled his forehead. "I'm sure I saw her outside with Grissom a few minutes ago. Why do you ask? Greg?"

But Greg was already going on.

* * *

Grissom. What had he expected? It was a party, and girls used to spend parties either with their boyfriends or with their girls to check out the men. Still it hurt him to the innermost to imagine Sara with him alone in the moonlit night.

For a moment he could taste her again, he could scent her cinnamon hair and feel her soft skin. In fact, he remembered this intimate moment much too often as it seemed. And there was only one way to erase the memories.

The cool glass felt good in his hand. Greg had always been a fun guy who didn't see anything wrong in having a few drinks with his mates, and well, maybe he didn't have his friends around right now, he still could use something to cheer him up.

Soon, a young woman approached him, smiling at him with her lipstick-red lips.

"Hey, I didn't expect a guy like you to be alone tonight", she said.

She was close to him, the curse of the alcohol-poisened liquid in the crystal-like glasses banned the defensive spell of reason, and although it had to be quite a long time it seemed like mere seconds later that the taste of beer in his mouth was replaced by something different, something he couldn't define, he couldn't even tell whether he liked it or not.

The moment her tongue began to play the ancient game of seduction, his eyes made a last attempt to gain his reason's attetion.

Grissom was walking through the room, the door was closing in slow-motion. He was alone.

The noise of the shut door catapulted Greg back to reality.

If Grissom was here, where was Sara?

He backed away from the blonde girl who looked rather angry.

"What're you doin'?", she asked with a slightly indistinct voice.

"I need to find her", he replied simply and enigmatically.

"What the hell is wrong with you?", he could hear her behind his back, but her words didn't mean anything to him. There was only one girl that mattered to him.

* * *

The night was covered by the smooth light of the bright moon. It wasn't even cold, he noticed in surprise, the air was like a black silky coat wrapped around his body.

"Sara?", he called in a low voice. "Sara, are you here?"

The only response was the motor of a car that passed by on the near-by street.

"Damn!", he muttered under his breath and took out his mobile phone. He didn't even need to search for her number, he might be drunk, but he still knew this combination by heart.

After a few seconds of signals finally she picked up the phone.

"Yes?"

"Sara? It's me, Greg. Sara, where are you? Sara?"

All he heard was a quiet sob and his heart skipped a beat.

"Hey, what's happened? Tell me Sara!"

"It's okay…"

"No, I know you're not okay! Listen, tell me where you are, I'll be right there."

"Greg, you don't need to… you'll miss the party…"

"I don't give a fuck about the damned party, I just wanna be with you!"

Again he could hear her crying, and immediately he felt sorry for his harsh tone.

"Sara, I didn't mean to be so rude, honestly, but please just tell me where you are. Please, Sara."

It took a nearly one minute until he heard her voice again.

"At the bus stop."

"Okay. Listen, hun, just stay where you are, I'll be there. Don't leave!"

He didn't even wait for an answer but started to run immediately.

* * *

She was sitting on a metal bench, her arms wrapped tightly around her body, the dark hair covering her face. He approached her slowly. The bus stop was enlightened, soaking the two people in a cold neon light. He remembered an old song which he hadn't heard for ages, and he wondered why it was suddenly in his head.

_…When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light  
That split the night  
And touched the sound of silence…_

"What's that song?"

"What?", he stared at Sara, both out of confusion and surprise. He hadn't expected her to speak.

"The song you hummed, what is it?"

Greg shrugged.

"Dunno."

"Well, who cares?"

He sat down beside her, exhaling and watching the white vapor in front of his face. A car rushed by at high speed, soon the backlights vanished in the night.

Greg sighed and took a deep breath.

"What's wrong, Sara?"

He could almost feel her tensing up, but before he could even regret his question, she turned her face at him. In the light he could see her eyes, still red from the tears she had cried, looking scared and relieved at the same time.

"I did it, Greg. I told him."

At first he didn't understand the whole meaning of these two little sentences, then he finally realized what she had said.

"We split up."

* * *

Her words were echoing in his ears, only a few, simple words, but they meant so much more to him than only words, although he couldn't quite define their real meaning. Were they a promise? A threat? He couldn't tell.

Greg cleared his throat twice before he managed to speak to Sara.

"How… how did it happen?"

The brunette woman leant her head against the glass wall of the bus stop. The bright light painted mysterious shadows onto her face while her eyes weren't visible. It was strange, Greg thought, how difficult it was to see a person's feelings without seeing the eyes. He could always tell how she felt just by looking into her eyes, but in the dark of this night he had to trust in her words. And despite his unconditional trust he knew that, contradicting to the eyes, the voice could lie.

"He said he needed to talk with me", Sara began slowly. "I think… I think his instincts told him to – he's an investigator, he always knows when something's wrong."

She fumbled with the sleeve of her blazer.

"He was very kind, he thought it was some personal problems like with my family or the job, you know the last case really got to me, but… I told him it wasn't because of the job. And then… I hardly remember who said what, but well, you know how it ended."

"I saw him coming back to the party", Greg remarked. "He looked rather upset."

"He was", Sara nodded, and Greg knew she was feeling guilty. "He didn't understand, and I couldn't explain it – it was weird. And then it was over."

He watched her carefully, noticed her licking her lips and staring into the darkness.

"Do you regret it?"

She shook her head slightly.

"I guess not."

They looked up simultaneously. From there they could hardly see the lights of the party.

"Did you notice Warrick and Cath?", Greg asked grinning.

"Warrick and… you must be kidding me!", Sara acclaimed in disbelief.

"Believe me, the bets are set!"

"Oh my God", she chuckled. "I didn't know Cath has a liking for younger men!"

"Do you?"

The question had come out of nothing, he hadn't thought about it. Freud would have loved it, he thought, but he wasn't sure if Sara would be as pleased as the psychologist.

She didn't say anything at first, as if she had to think hard about the answer. And who knew – maybe she really had to. How could he know?

"Isn't it funny", she eventually said, "how we always try to find certain types of people who we think we'd get along with, just to end up with someone completely different? We think we've found this certain someone and then we realize that he may be what we searched for, but not what we need."

Greg looked at her, scanning her profile and knowing that he would never forget this picture, her beautiful face in the pale light, the dark night with the bright lights of Las Vegas in the distance.

"And what are the odds", he asked quietly, "that the one we need is the one who searches for us?"

"It's against the odds", Sara replied just as quietly. "But it happens. It's only a matter of time."

He could feel her cold fingers entangling with his, and he held his breath and closed his eyes because he feared that any movement might wake him up, but when he inhaled and closed his eyes he could still feel it. The skin of her fingers was a bit rough, like a little stone, he thought, that had been washed by the sea but had stranded before it was completely polished. A tiny stone in the ocean that's called life, brought to the shore to be found by someone to love it the way it was.

"Do you want to return to the party?", he heard her asking.

"I don't think so."

She bit her lower lips subconciously, and it made her look like a child that's unsure about what to do.

"Neither do I", she said.

They looked into each other's eyes and Greg was sure that Sara could read his mind just like he could read hers.

* * *

Soft music was playing quietly. The red wine was shining in the glasses and their eyes met above the rims as the beautiful sound of the touching glasses filled the air.

"To the most amazing woman I've ever known", Greg said smilingly, and Sara blushed slightly.

"To us", she replied.

They sipped the sweet liquid, their bodies close, hearts melting.

Tenderly he kissed her red lips, keeping his mouth on hers a little bit longer than he should, soaking up this moment to save it. He saw her closing her wonderful eyes, he could hear his heart beating so fast that he thought he would burst, and he shivered as his left hand slightly touched her thigh and felt the tension in her.

He backed away a little as if he couldn't quite believe that this was real. But the way she looked at him told him that this wasn't an illusion.

Her hands were suddenly touching his, drawing him closer, and it almost seemed like some sort of time travelling to him, he could nearly scent the desert wind and feel the cool of the Nevada night that had always been so close and was so distant now. Their lips met once again, searching, longing for something they had been denied for far too long. Greg wanted to drown in this kiss so that he could forever be filled with this taste of delight.

He laid his hand on her neck, his fingers entangling with her dark hair, caressing her while their desire was winning over reason, making Sara moan as his lips found their way down to her collarbone. Her fingers ran underneath his shirt, pulling him closer and sending shivers down his spine. He followed her fragile bone with his mouth, leaving kisses on her warm skin.

"Oh God, Greg…", she whispered.

"If I'm moving too fast, you must tell me", he said hoarsely, deep inside, before she could even answer, knowing he wouldn't have to stop.

But Sara didn't reply. Slowly, one by one, she began to unbutton his shirt, her lips hungrily searching for his, her eyes shining like diamonds. Only a few seconds later he felt the cool air on his enheated body, her kisses on his bare skin making him shiver with pleasure. His hands slid over her hips, up her side, taking her top with them and pulling it off. He couldn't take his eyes off her, he hesitated and stared at her, with her hair hanging down on her shoulders and her eyes speaking the ancient language of love.

"You're so absolutely beautiful", he said stunned.

Sara chuckled.

"You've seen me before, haven't you?", she reminded him of the intimate minutes back in the past. But Greg shook his head.

"When I told you I hadn't seen anything, it was the truth." He grinned. "And I'm glad because if I had looked, then I would have had to live on with the knowledge that maybe I'd never see you like that again." He kissed her mouth, then her neck, constantly going deeper. "And I can't tell you how happy I am to have this experience now", he added.

Sara ran her fingers through his short hair, one hand slipping down his back as if she wanted to pull him even closer to herself.

"Well, you're still not seeing near as much as I did", she whispered into his ear, took his hands and determinedly led them down her stomach until they touched the belt of her jeans. His quivering fingers reached the buckle, the cold metal like ice on his hands.

There she was, so entirely beautiful like no dream could ever have shown her, and as Greg felt the cool leather of his old sofa at his back and Sara's hair tickling his bare chest, he realized that sometimes it was possible to beat the odds. It was only a matter of time.

_Before the night is over_

_We're gonna get what we desire_

_Remember what I told ya_

_This could set our hearts on fire…_

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**A/N: The first song is "Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel, the second one is "Before the Night is over" by Bryan Adams.**

**tbc!**_  
_


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